TEM and WAXS characterization of polyaniline/PP fibers

PANIPOL™/ polypropylene (PP) blends can be melt spun into conducting fibers, with a diameter of ca. 20μm. They have been characterized by TEM and WAXS. We find that the fibers have a highly ordered polyaniline (PANI) structure and exhibit a phase separated morphology with continuous fibrils of PANI in the PP-matrix. The PANI phase has a well developed three dimensional order with a layer structure parallel to the PANT chains and the fiber axis. The layer distance is ~2.9 nm as observed from the micrographs and from the low angle X-ray reflection. The presence of higher order X-ray reflections and the narrow peak width indicate long range order of ~13 nm. The continuous PANT phase gives rise to an electrical conductivity of up to 10−3 S/cm.